Love Tap
by Crimson Flame-Blue Rose
Summary: Takes place during the The Naked City case. After Cole gets knocked on the head while following up on a lead, Roy proves to possess a kinder side while patching his partner up. Slight RoyxCole, if you consider providing first aid and some sass 'fluff'.


Roy sniffed harshly as he slipped his hands into his coat pockets, looking down to

examine his shoes as the three of them stood in the elevator in silence.

The steel carriage hummed as it carried them up to the third floor, hopefully delivering

them to Henry Arnett's apartment.

The impatient clacking of high heels reminded him that the Swanson broad was still with

him and Cole; he could practically feel her glaring stare at the back of his head.

He didn't understand why his partner had insisted on bringing her with them.

For one thing, she was a liability, obnoxious, for another.

She probably didn't appreciate his little jabs at her picture perfect beau, but he was so

sick and tired of her running her mouth and going on and on about her denial on Arnett's

involvement in the case.

She had eventually given up and shut her trap, much to his relief.

But now, trapped in this box with her and Cole, he didn't dare make eye contact with her

should she decide to start flapping her gums once more. He sighed as his shoulders

slumped forward. He glanced to his left, none too surprised to see his partner with his

hands in his pockets and his eyes fixed to the floor numbers above the door. Good 'ol

golden boy, calm and patient as ever.

He had been impressed with Cole's progress, but his technique could use a little work.

The goody two shoes act, doing it by the book, was never his style.

He knew that in this city, you had to have a thick skin and be ruthless with suspects.

But he understood that Cole was still fresh on the force, he needed more time before

coming to the realization. At the end of the day, though, the only thing that mattered were

results.

A closed case, a glass of scotch and he could call it a good day.

That was good enough for him, morals and happy endings aside.

He almost felt sorry for the kid.

His gaze returned to the doors in front of him before their eyes could meet.

The elevator slowed to a stop, jarring the trio slightly, before the doors opened.

Cole had been the first to step out, taking the lead as he searched for Arnett's door.

Roy chose to hang back a little bit to make sure he could keep a watchful eye on his

partner and their escort in case they came under fire. Cole stopped suddenly, looking

back at him with a frown on his face.

Roy's ears picked up on the loud smack just then, realizing that Arnett might not have

been alone.

Cole instinctively brought out his gun and kicked the door open faster than he could

blink, his own hand going for his revolver and reaching his other hand behind him to

push the scorned dame against the wall for cover. "LAPD! Freeze!" Cole shouted, taking

aim at a man that stood over Arnett's limp form.

The said schmuck turned tail and began climbing out the window.

"Don't shoot, we need him!" Roy called as he grabbed Cole's gun and pushed it down to

keep it from going off and hitting their suspect – the only lead they have in this

investigation.

Cole released an irritated breath as he slipped his pistol back into his holster before taking

off and climbing through the window and running down the fire escape.

Roy eyed the still body on the floor and cautiously stepped further into the room, inching

closer to Arnett while his eyes whirled about him in case that ape had left any friends

behind that would jump him.

Getting down on one knee, he checked for a pulse, spotting a decently sized shiner over

Henry's left eye. "Henry!" Roy turned to see the brunette rush into the room and kneel

down to cradle her fiancé's head.

"He'll be fine, just a little tap from our friend out there." He reassured her as he stood up.

The last thing he needed was a blubbering twit on his hands.

"Help me." Heather pleaded as she took hold of one of Henry's arms in a pathetic attempt

to pull him up. "Alright, hang on." He sighed as stooped down and wrapped his arms

around Arnett's chest and dragged him towards the couch, dropping him onto the

cushions unceremoniously. He moved out of the way when the girl hurried over to the

couch, her heels clicking on the wooden floor as she picked up her fiancé's legs so they

rested on the couch more comfortably before sitting down and caressing his hair as his

head laid in her lap. He snorted at the sight before him. He couldn't believe that he had

been stuck with babysitting duty. He should be out there with Cole; he was taking longer

than usual.

He frowned when he heard an uneven tempo of footsteps coming back up the fire escape.

Glancing at the window, he was surprised to see that his partner had returned without

their suspect in cuffs.

Cole managed to climb back into the room, his left foot catching on the windowsill and

causing him to stumble. Roy quirked a brow at the wavering, unfocused stare in his

partners eyes. "Cole?" he asked aloud, gauging the man's condition.

A small tug at the corner of the other man's mouth revealed a crooked grin as his gaze

finally met Roy's.

"Hello…" Cole greeted before his knees buckled and he dropped onto the floor like a log.

The corner of his mouth turned up into a grin as he walked over to his fallen partner, still

processing the bizarre entrance. Getting down on one knee, Roy examined Cole's face,

assuming he had been knocked around during their separation. Seeing that the detective's

face was void of cuts or bruises, he then began to feel around Cole's head to check for

lumps. Cole's right temple sported quite the goose egg…

Drawing his fingers back, he saw blood.

He pulled Cole's handkerchief from his breast pocket and wadded it up before holding it

against his head, applying pressure to the wound. He commended the kid for having the

guts to go after that son of a bitch, but he couldn't help but chuckle at his naivete.

Soon, Cole stirred with a pained groan; his right hand blindly reaching up to touch his

head, his fingers briefly meeting the back of Roy's hand. Roy pulled his hand away and

stuffed the handkerchief into his pocket. "'Morning, sunshine." He chuckled as he stood

up, reaching down to help his partner stand and wrapped his arm around his shoulders as

he led him towards the kitchen table.

Cole nursed his head as he tried to string his thoughts together, still feeling woozy after

waking up on the floor. Roy had been kind enough to pick him up off the floor and sit

him down at the table, even go as far as to surprise him with a cup of water. "Looks like

he got you good, Phelps." He heard Roy state with a hint of mirth in his voice, looking up

to see a grin on his face. "Yeah, he really packs a wallop." He murmured, shaking the

cobwebs from his mind. Roy circled around him as he took a sip from the mug, breathing

a sigh of relief as the water quenched his thirst. It wasn't much to quell his throbbing

head, but every little bit helps. "How did I get back here?" Cole frowned as he tried to

remember if he had walked back or if Roy had gone out to retrieve him. Considering that

he had to have gone back across that board that connected these two buildings, by himself

or with Roy's help, it seemed impossible.

"Under your own steam, miraculously." Roy answered, "You came in through the

window, said hello, and then keeled over." He snorted at the last part. Cole had to restrain

himself from rolling his eyes at his partner's apparent amusement at his expense. "How's

Arnett?" he changed the topic as he rubbed at his head once more, wincing at the sharp

pain as he tried to massage the bruise.

"He's coming around. He's all hopped up; it would be a good time to get some answers."

He nodded his head in the direction of the couch.

Cole cleared his throat as he stood up from his seat, vaguely aware of a hand clapping on

his shoulder as he strode over to the living room to question Henry about Julia Randall.

It just had to be one of those nights…

+.+.+.+.+.+.+.+.+.+.+.+.

My first L.A. Noire fic, huzzah!

I wrote this back on November 9th 2013; I wasn't sure if I should post this here on my page since all

of my other stories are focused on Resident Evil. But, the story's been on my tumblr this whole time and it

didn't seem fair to keep it posted in that one place.

I saw the LANoirekinkmeme on Livejournal back in November of that year and decided to take up a

request and posted it there – before the group was deleted back in December due to the lack of activity.

Someone had asked for a story focusing on what could've been Roy's reaction after Cole got hit during The

Naked City case in the game. So I tried to add my own spin on the idea.

And, if you look very closely, you _might_ possibly see a bit of RoyxCole.

I wrote down a few more prompts from the meme and hope to do them all before I move on to trying to

write my own original stories based around the LAN universe. However, I do have a few more LAN stories

already written up and I'm going to go ahead and post them all today!

Also, I'd like to apologize for my own lack of activity these last few months (almost a year?).

I was exhausted after finishing "Fallen Angel" and wanted to take a few months off to rest. But then, I ran

into some fandom-related drama and then I lost my muse…and I just think that it's best if I took a break

from Resident Evil altogether this year. I did write the prologue chapter for the sequel of "Fallen Angel"

and hope to work on it next year, maybe I'll feel better then and I can get back into the swing if things.

But, for now, I'm going to relax and enjoy writing L.A. Noire stories.

Sorry for the long hiatus, but I'm back now!

Lin


End file.
